SR 40 widening being studied again

OCALA - State Road 40 is being studied once again by the state, this time formally, and a Project Advisory Group is being formed to provide input during the three-year study period.

Widening SR 40 from two lanes to four from Silver Springs east to U.S. 17 is one of the alternatives being considered in the Florida Department of Transportation's Project Development & Environment Study, commonly referred to as the PD&E. The 40-mile stretch of roadway crosses portions of Marion, Lake and Volusia counties.

The purpose of the Project Advisory Group is to discuss the study's progress, environmental issues, roadway aesthetics and design requirements. The PAG's first meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Wednesday at the Appleton Museum of Art.

"We still have to establish the purpose and need," said Bill Walsh, about the possibility of four-laning the roadway through the Ocala National Forest. "We are still refining our traffic and safety report." Walsh is FDOT's project manager for the State Road 40 PD&E study.

"We have a higher than average fatality rate on SR 40 through the Forest," Walsh said about some preliminary findings. He said on a rural two-lane road there is an average of 3.43 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles. FDOT's preliminary analysis indicates 10.02 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles on SR 40.

Widening the two-lane road has been a controversial issue for more than 20 years and has involved multiple studies. Transportation planners have argued for widening SR 40, while environmentalists have argued that the road, which runs though the Ocala National Forest, could degrade that natural resource as well as wildlife and other public lands.

A SR 40 Task Force was formed to determine if road builders and environmentalists could agree on ways to make road improvements on one of the few east/west corridors in the state. A final report was issued Feb. 6, 2006.

Members of the Task Force seemed to agree that the road might be expanded as a scenic byway. That designation is currently being sought. It would have nothing to do with limiting road capacity, according to Garry Balogh with FDOT.

In the meantime, SR 40 has been listed on the state's Strategic Intermodal System. The Task Force wants SR 40 reevaluated to determine if, in fact, it should be listed on the state's strategic system since higher speeds are permitted those roads. The task force is concerned about wildlife, such as black bears, being killed while crossing the road.

After the Task Force made its report, the DOT began its PD&E study, which will cost an estimated $3.5 million. Members of the Task Force, as well as other interested parties, have been invited to join the Project Advisory Group.

"It will be interesting to watch it unfold," said Cathy Lowenstein, forestry resource administrator of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, who is working on the scenic byway application, and who was a Task Force member. "I am wondering what kind of new information we will get."

The DOT uses the PD&E Study process to ensure that engineering design, project costs, environmental and social impacts and input from the public are taken into consideration.

"We will look at a full range of alternatives under the PD&E study," said Gary Graeber, senior engineer for Inwood Consulting Engineers, the consultant doing the study for the DOT. "One of the alternatives we will look at is four-laning the road the entire way, but we will also look at the need -- do we need to four-lane it the entire way. We are still working on the traffic projections."

Graeber said he is also looking at alternative corridors and is updating the safety analysis.

"The PAG is going to be very inclusive," Walsh said about the advisory group. "It's open to the public. We want to hear both sides. We are going to take what we hear there very seriously when considering alternatives."

__________Susan Latham Carr may be reached at susan.carr@starbanner.com or (352) 867-4156.